Don't judge a band by it's covers

I was all set to go to my friends' gig last night, but their singer was sick so they were taken off the program. Keen to get out of the house and keen to catch up with her, I went to the gig anyway.

With a mulled wine in hand, we listened to the end of a female folk singer's set as she described her final song as "really whiney but gonna do it anyway." It was good.

The next band was setting up. They looked like a collection of high-school music teachers; one was even wearing a name tag . The lead guitarist was in an elephant grey suit with a chain hanging from his belt to his pocket, that I suspect he had his wallet or keys or smartphone dangling from. There were members with long hair and thinning hair among them.....and boy, was I excited to hear what they were going to bring to the party. 

To put it simply: they rocked. They were energetic, experienced and claimed to not have had a rehearsal since 2002. The lead guitarist did that thing that Pete Townsend from The Who does where he holds his guitar up away from his body and plays it. Their songs were about the pubs of Melbourne, girls they used to know and the mischief they got up to in the 70s and 80s; how breaking into cars was people watching and a great way to find new cds and narcotics, among other things. I looked around the audience- all 15 of us, and saw smiles and engagement. The band wasn't caring about who wasn't there, how the venue was only a fraction full. They knew the most important people were there, us, the ones sitting in the seats watching them, and that, to me, is what really rocks. 

In Amanda Palmer's book: The Art of Asking, she tells of how when she was young she lied to people when they asked what she wanted to be 'when she grew up' 

 "a lawyer, a doctor, a veterinarian, I liked my cat, I figured I qualified. The truth just sounded too stupid. I want to be a rockstar...an artistic one, a cool one, like Prince, Janis Joplin, Cindy Lauper."

I guess it's inspiring to see people who continue to do what they love, even though there are hundreds of young-tattoo wielding, electronically enhanced  and hashtagging up and coming artists out there. It's inspiring to see that passion is stronger than embarrassment, and that you should never judge a band by it's covers. 

Jj